Saturday, 22 December 2012

Everyone here at Village Stores would like to wish you all a
very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous new year! Our shops only
exist because of our wonderful customers, suppliers and staff,
and it is our good fortune to be involved in all that. Many thanks to everyone

Saturday, 15 December 2012

Back
in 2003 Jayne organized an all-age Christmas party with magician Robert Rae in
Limber village hall - and in 2012 she's doing it again! The Caistor Lions Santa
is coming around 6.00pm, and there will be food and party games too! Everyone
is welcome - tickets are £3 each. Great Limber Village Hall Sunday 16th
December 2012 3.00pm-6.30pm. Do come

Sunday, 2 December 2012

It’s
always nice to find unusual presents for everyone at Christmas, and the Limber
Village Hall Christmas Fair never disappoints. See you there today - 11am - 4pm
Jayne's selling her hand-made necklaces!

Saturday, 24 November 2012

Christmas is always a very busy time in the shops, and we
have been racing to get out all of our special offers. This year we have some
real bargains! And we have already been doing a GIANT TRADE in crumble top
mince pies!

Saturday, 17 November 2012

Jayne organised a fashion show at Great Limber village hall
on Friday 16th November, and the evening was a great success. 2 youngsters
volunteered to model the clothes on the catwalk, and great fun was had by all!
There was a raffle at the interval which raised £80 for Children in Need, and
all the proceeds from ticket sales were split between the church repairs
and the village hall funds. Well done!

Sunday, 11 November 2012

We have just received some special Christmas stock - a very
wonderful tonic water made by Fentimans. It's the first time Fentimans have
produced tonic - if it is as good as their traditional Cola, Ginger Beer and
Dandelion & Burdock we are all in for a proper treat. Great stuff!

Saturday, 3 November 2012

It's November, and we are kicking off the build up to the
festive season by trimming up the shops! David has acquired some
"innovative" hanging decorations for Keelby - they look like cannon
balls, but they are covered with small artificial berries about the size of
gooseberries. Pop in and see what you think!

Saturday, 27 October 2012

27th October saw the 34th National Hedge Laying
Championships on a road halfway between Great Limber and Keelby. It was quite
an honour to have such a prestigious event so close to us, and we are all very
enthusiastic about keeping rural crafts like hedge laying alive. The day was
cold and bright - flurries of snow overnight didn't settle - so a wonderful
time was had by all. The local Lincolnshire style of hedge laying is plashing -
we didn't realise that each area has its own style and traditions! A great day!

Monday, 22 October 2012

Just finished making a new Christmas video for 2012 - see it
at http://youtu.be/3F_Dlsd279c We
did struggle with our software, which can't produce films bigger than 5Mb - so
please forgive the low picture quality on the final effort! David's Mum spent
ages knitting Santas........

Saturday, 13 October 2012

Camelot have installed a National Lottery terminal at Great
Limber, and Jayne is now producing winning tickets by the bucket full! She has
a great selection of scratch cards, and can now give advice on all the National
Lottery games. Do bring along any old lottery tickets you find laying in the
bottom of drawers etc. - Jayne can check them all, and it would be a shame to
throw away a winner!!!

Monday, 24 September 2012

On Sunday 23rd September we all enjoyed a wonderful evening
of traditional music from Senegal, West Africa. Doudou Cissoko and his band
kept us all spell bound, and there was a chance for us all to try traditional
Sabar dancing at the end of the evening. Many thanks to everyone who helped
organise such a perfect evening - and we understand another special event is
promised next March! Well done!

Friday, 21 September 2012

We are all getting very excited about the forthcoming
concert in Limber Village Hall on Sunday (23/09/12) 7.30pm. Doudou Cissoko
plays the kora, a traditional stringed instrument from Senegal - he's very
famous for his playing, and he has 4 very skilful musicians to accompany him.
It promises to be a night to remember. Doudou's music is very harmonious and
easy to listen to - here is a link to a website where you can hear it for
yourself: http://t.co/K4IYmy1e Do
come - you'll have a great time!

Sunday, 16 September 2012

THURSDAY 13th was unlucky at Keelby - the printer broke down
so the paper lads had to do the am rounds from memory. Then a starling flew
into the shop & had to be chased out. We were just putting the shelves etc.
back when it came in again & managed to get into the suspended ceiling! It
took another 1/2 hour & lots of acrobatics until David
grabbed it & took it to the church yard. It flew away unharmed.

Saturday, 8 September 2012

On Wednesday Jayne and David attended a public meeting to
learn of the Brocklesby Estate's plans for an anaerobic digester just outside
Great Limber. Maize grown nearby will be fermented in a special way to produce
methane, which will be used to power grain dryers: surplus electricity will be
sold to the National Grid. It all sounds interesting, as long as the roads
don't get congested.

Tuesday, 28 August 2012

We have learned that our friends at Roe's Dairy
have found it's no longer economic to supply retailers with their
wonderful fresh milk. Instead they will send their milk to another local dairy
- we'll have a word, and try to get good local milk back on our shelves!

David has been trying to devise a volcanic birthday cake.
The idea is to bake a sponge, then hollow it out underneath to take an empty
plastic jiff lemon, so its top pokes through the surface of the cake. Inside
the lemon is a balloon full of lemon juice with a pile of home-made sherbet
sitting on top (bicarbonate and icing sugar 50/50). When the time comes,
you poke a cocktail stick down the neck of the lemon, burst the
balloon, and the lemon juice causes the sherbet to froth up and erupt,
covering the surface of the cake. Early experiments have not gone too well,
though....

Saturday, 28 July 2012

We watched with
baited breath as grape vines were planted at Somerby Green, a village about 8
miles from our shop at Great Limber. Over the past 5 years or so the vines have
grown - and now we have the chance to sell the excellent wine they produce in
our shops. See somerbyvineyards.com]

Saturday, 21 July 2012

On Friday 27th July, to celebrate the opening of the London
Olympics, there is a special Euro millions draw. That night, as well as the
huge Euro millions jackpot 100 lucky ticket holders will win £1million each on
the millionaires' raffle. Very good!

Saturday, 14 July 2012

In April a trailer that was being towed past the shop at
Great Limber broke free from its tractor and demolished a lamp post and the
crash barrier at the side of the shop. It filled the garden at the back of the
shop with compost! This week the council have been out and repaired the barrier
- it looks great! Let’s hope it stays that way......!

Saturday, 16 June 2012

Jayne has been in hospital for a few days - she has had an
operation on her thyroid gland (neck region). Everything went very well, and
she's now back in action at our Limber shop. Her voice does get a bit croaky
still, but that is getting better all the time. We would just like to say a big
thank you to everyone who kept us running while Jayne was out of action!

Saturday, 26 May 2012

It has been a busy few days! Jayne is getting ready for her
operation on Thursday 31/05/12 - she'll be out of action for about 5 days. The
car failed its MOT quite comprehensively so we have bought a 14-year-old
metallic blue Nissan Micra with 45k on the clock as a replacement. On Monday a
swarm of bees formed above the shop door at Keelby, but then disappeared. They
came back on Tuesday, but disappeared again. So far they haven't returned, but
Jayne did notice several bees in the storeroom at Limber, so we are keeping the
door shut. And to crown it all Sarah, who works at Keelby on Sunday pm has
caught chicken pox.

Sunday, 6 May 2012

Jayne has been helping to organise a wedding dress festival
over the bank holiday weekend at the church in Great Limber. Lots of ladies
have baked for the cake sale, and teas and coffees are also available. Do try
to pop in if you can - some of the dresses are very beautiful.

A farm tractor towing
a trailer full of compost went too fast through the village. The trailer came
unhitched, demolished the crash barrier and smashed into a lamp post at the
back of our shop. We now have a garden full of compost!

Saturday, 21 April 2012

David went to see the first-class female duet
"Venus" perform in the Keelby Village Hall on Friday 20th April, and
had a really good time. It is great when such wonderful entertainment is
available just on your doorstep. Well done to all - we look forward the
the next production!

Monday, 2 April 2012

On Sunday April 1st David put a sign up outside the Keelby
shop. The sign said that anyone who had bought a cold pastie from the shop, but
who had then cooked it at home, had to return to the shop and pay a VAT
surcharge. Hot pasties are subject to value added tax (a purchase
tax) but cold ones are not. Only one person came back to pay the surcharge -
David had to explain it was all just an April fools' joke.

Saturday, 31 March 2012

We are all getting ready for Easter here at the Village
Stores. There is a fine selection of Easter Cards at Limber, and creme eggs are
in abundance. And don't forget the wonderful hot cross buns we get from
Turners. We don't believe in cut-price imitations - only the best rational
hot cross buns for our customers (and us!).

Tuesday, 6 March 2012

After the great office-painting episode last week, Jayne has
hidden all the paint brushes. But we are still having adventures with
paint. While we doing the banking in Grimsby's Freshen Place this week
someone scuffed our car. Its only superficial, and the gentleman stayed
with our car till we returned so he could pass on his details - all the
same, wow! Decorating is certainly in the air!

Saturday, 25 February 2012

When Jayne went out to the pub quiz last Thursday David
grabbed a tin of magnolia emulsion and painted the walls of the office in Great
Limber. No spills, but Jayne wasn't entirely enthusiastic about it when she
returned. Belle-Belle thought it was great - she helped David, wagging her tail
all the time. We still haven't managed to get the paint off her tail.

Saturday, 18 February 2012

Today we received posters from David's nephew Sean. He is
going to run in the London marathon on April 22nd 2012. Sean hopes to raise at
least £2,000 for the Royal British Legion - a really worthwhile cause. We wish
him all the best - if anyone would like to join us in sponsoring him, please
get in touch.

Sunday, 12 February 2012

Temperatures plummeted to minus 13 degrees centigrade on
Friday night, and at about 3.00am on Saturday morning the power failed in
Keelby. Limber was OK. When the power came back there must have been a surge
that knocked out the new till at Keelby. All the other equipment was OK, so we
put one of the computers on the counter, and used a spreadsheet to keep track
of sales (one step up from writing everything by hand)! The till maintenance
people only work Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm, so we'll get on to them
then. Such fun!

Monday, 6 February 2012

First snow the Winter fell this weekend, but mercifully not
as much as last year. We are selling loads of veg. - must be stew-time in
Lincolnshire! And much to David's relief, we have even sold some of the sledges
he bought last October.

Monday, 30 January 2012

We went to see this year's Keelby panto "Dick
Whittington" on Friday night at the village hall, and enjoyed it greatly.
How the cast manage to pull it off we can't imagine. The young girls playing
the rats failed to appear at one point, bringing forth some excellent
ad-libbing. Bravo!

Saturday, 21 January 2012

At 7.00pm on Thursday
North Lincs was shaken by a sonic boom. It shook windows, and people thought it
might be an explosion or an earthquake. They now think it was an aircraft
breaking the sound barrier. Jayne & David didn't hear anything at all!!

Sunday, 15 January 2012

Police suspect murder after the body of an East European was
found in woods near Great Limber - two East Europeans are being held. Our
thought goes out to the victim's family. On a more mundane level, our new batch
of Special Offer leaflets are out in Keelby, and ticket sales for the Keelby
pantomime Dick Whittington are going well.

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

For the past week or so the police have been conducting a
detailed search of the woodlands surrounding Great Limber. Today they announced
they have found a man's body, and suspect murder. It's all rather daunting
stuff!